Labour deems house-building in ‘turmoil’ amid high risk of targets being missed

The Scottish Government’s affordable house-building programme is in “turmoil”, Scottish Labour said after documents revealed flagship targets may be missed.

Ministers have pledged to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 – 70% of which should be for social rent.

However, the Government’s own risk register has warned there is a “very high” risk that “insufficient levels of capital funding” means these targets will not be met.

The document, released to Labour using freedom of information laws, said there is also a “very high” risk that ministers will fail to meet the 70% social rent goal.

Ministers have faced criticism from opposition parties after slashing nearly £200 million from the affordable housing budget last year.

The Scottish Government said it had to make cuts after the UK Government cut its capital budget – used for long-term investments such as buildings and roads – by 9%.

It comes after figures released in September revealed the number of live homeless cases in Scotland had surged to a record high of 31,870.

The number of households in temporary accommodation – including the number of children – also reached record levels.

Overall, 38,075 adults and 15,474 children are considered homeless in Scotland.

Labour said that since 2019, the number of social sector new-starts has more than halved (56%), while the overall number of affordable houses being built has plummeted by 44%.

Mark Griffin, the party’s housing spokesman, said: “Scotland is in the grips of a housing emergency but these shocking documents expose the turmoil at the heart of the SNP Government’s affordable housing programme.

“Every Scot deserves a safe, secure home to call their own, but too often that is not the case.

“Once again the SNP is more interested in setting targets than meeting them.

“The SNP needs to correct course before these key targets slip out of reach by boosting house-building and delivering fair funding for housing and local government.”

Housing minister Paul McLennan said: “We have a strong track record in house-building by supporting the delivery of more than 133,000 affordable homes since 2007, with more than 94,000 of those being for social rent.

“That’s just over 45% more affordable homes per head of population than in England and 70% more than in Wales.

“We continue to build on that record with almost £600 million of investment this year.

“We remain focused on the delivery of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 70% for social rent and 10% in rural and island communities.

“We are concluding a review of the affordable housing supply programme to ensure our limited resources are being deployed most effectively to improve the supply of affordable housing.

“However, truly tackling the housing emergency requires a joint approach between UK, Scottish and local government and housing providers.”